Recruiting Roadblocks - Limiting Your Options

It's a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time. Limiting your college options is both helpful and discouraging.

In one sense we have a focused group of schools or locations that help us really narrow down where we are looking and who we should be reaching out to. Contrast that with someone that is mostly wide open and willing to go anywhere.

"I only want to play D1 and stay close to home"

Great! There are a number of D1 schools in and around Texas. But what factors limit us in this situation? What level can she play and what position? We might start with plenty of options in the beginning, but when we start crossing schools off the list as we talk about realistic options, our list might get really small.

"I want to go to a school in CO (or FL)"

Great! This gives us some direction. But there are only so many options in these states. There are only so many schools. We certainly aren't starting with 50 schools in either case. Whittle down the list based on level or needs of each school. Our list might dwindle all together.

"I want to get a degree in Marine Biology"

Awesome! There are only so many schools that offer that as an education option. If this is a 'make or break' variable for a school, our list is going to get really small really fast.

Remember that it's never just ONE variable that we have to take into account. We are always considering athletic fit...we are always considering roster spots...we are always considering scholarships...we are always considering what positions a school is recruiting.

At the same time, being "wide open" has it's own challenges. We can narrow down some of the ability pieces, locations and maybe who is recruiting your position. But we are still in a position to where we are reaching out to a LOT of schools. That's not bad though! It just takes work :)

You want as many college coaches coming to your court as you can. You want as many options as you can. I would encourage every athlete to NOT arbitrarily cross schools off their list until they have looked up the school online and maybe had a phone call with the coach. You might be in a situation where the school you never heard of 4 months ago is actually a perfect fit for you and your college volleyball playing career.